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Casse looks for early Spa success by sending out G3 Schuylerville contender Pretty Birdie

by NYRA Press Office

• Casse looks for early Spa success by sending out G3 Schuylerville contender Pretty Birdie 
• Hebert ships Rebel Posse by way of Texas for G3 Quick Call
• Rookie Report: Echo Zulu, half to G1 winner Echo Town, to debut on Opening Day

Trainer Norm Casse said he is hoping to start the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on a high note when he sends out Pretty Birdie on Opening Day on Thursday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Schuylerville. 

Owned by Marylou Whitney Stables, the homebred juvenile daughter of Bird Song won at first asking on June 18 at Churchill Downs, leading at every point of call and extended her advantage throughout the five-furlong journey to win by 3 3/4 lengths. 

Casse said he noticed something special in Pretty Birdie since she arrived at his barn from Ocala, where she was broken by Randy Bradshaw. 

“We’ve always been high on her,” Casse said. “She came up from Randy Bradshaw with other Whitney babies. It was pretty obvious from day one that she was the most precocious. She’s professional, fast, loves to run and just has all the kind of qualities you look for in a racehorse. So, she’s earned her spot in this race. We’re just hoping for a little bit of luck.”

Despite displaying frontrunning tactics on debut, Casse said Pretty Birdie would likely track the pace under Luis Saez, given the amount of speed in the field of nine juvenile fillies. 

“It seems like there’s a ton of speed in there,” Casse said. “I just hope we break sharply from the rail and forwardly placed in the pace. At some point hopefully Luis can find a way out and we can make our run.”

Casse learned his craft as an assistant from his father, Hall of Famer Mark Casse. He now seeks his first graded stakes triumph at the Spa since going out on his own in 2018, and his second graded stakes victory overall of his career. In 2019, he saddled Hard Legacy – also owned by Marylou Whitney Stables – to a score in the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill Downs.

“To win the Schuylerville on opening day at Saratoga, with everything going back to normal after the pandemic, would be amazing,” Casse said. “Obviously, it’s a privilege to be associated with the Whitneys and John [Hendrickson], knowing what they mean to the town of Saratoga.”

Casse, who has 16 stalls at the Spa for the meet, expressed excitement in running some of his talented juveniles at Saratoga this summer. 

“We’re really lucky to have a bunch of nice 2-year-olds, so we thought it would be the right time to come back up here,” Casse said.

Some juveniles for Casse that are possible for stakes action later this meet include Ontheonesandtwos who was a last out second in the Debutante on June 26 at Churchill Downs and could race in the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack on August 8. 

Glacial, third in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor on June 26 at Churchill Downs, is possible for the Grade 2, $150,000 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite. 

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Hebert ships Rebel Posse by way of Texas for G3 Quick Call 

It’s a long journey from Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas to Saratoga Race Course – 1,444 miles to be exact – but trainer Matt Hebert said he has enough confidence in Rebel Posse to send the two-time winner for Thursday’s Opening Day’s Grade 3, $120,000 Quick Call at Saratoga.

“I like him a lot. It’s a lot to ask a horse to ship that far, but I think we fit in there,” Hebert said.

When stepping up to graded stakes company for the first time in the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for sophomores, Rebel Posse faces a salty group which includes highly-regarded Golden Pal who runs for the first time since capturing last year’s Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland. He also will take on stakes-winner Jaxon Traveler, who has never finished worse than second in seven lifetime starts.

Rebel Posse, owned by C J Thoroughbreds, Mike Renfro and Francis Hartman, is unbeaten when sprinting on the grass. He broke his maiden at third asking when making his turf debut at Sam Houston on March 4. After a close second in an off-the-turf allowance event at Lone Star, Rebel Posse returned to the green with vigor when defeating winners traveling five furlongs on June 6 at the Texas oval. 

Hebert said the extra half-furlong should suit Rebel Posse. 

“I think the extra distance compared to the five eighths is going to be good,” Hebert said. “With that extra sixteenth of a mile, he should have something to run at. The way he runs and can relax a bit, it should be beneficial.”

Before going out on his own, Hebert worked as an assistant to recently retired Kentucky horseman Buff Bradley for whom he helped oversee the campaign of dual Breeders’ Cup-winner Groupie Doll. 

Hebert, who sends out his first starter at a NYRA track in Rebel Posse, said it would be a thrill to win a race at Saratoga.

“It would mean absolutely everything. It would mean the world to me and everyone who helped me get to this point. This will be my first trip up here, so it’s super cool,” Hebert said. “I worked for Buff for about six or seven years at Churchill, Keeneland and Gulfstream in the winter. After he sold Groupie Doll, he gave me a couple of his homebreds and said, ‘Good luck.’”

Since going out on his own, Hebert has been primarily based on the southwest circuit. He recently completed the Lone Star Park meet, which finished on July 11, with a 33-5-5-5 record. 

“It was kind of circumstantial,” Hebert said of how he got plugged into the Texas circuit. “We wintered at old Evangeline in Louisiana and would ship to Houston and did pretty well. When they tore the old Evangeline down, we had to stable at Houston and we just fell into the circuit. I’ve done Lone Star the past two years, and we did Remington this year. We did well in each spot and we picked up some clients along the way.”

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Rookie Report: Echo Zulu, half to G1 winner Echo Town, to debut on Opening Day

Juvenile racing at the Spa kicks off with a pair of maiden special weight races for 2-year-old fillies travelling 5 ½ furlongs over the main track on Thursday. 

In Race 2, a field of nine freshman fillies will race 5 ½ furlongs when seeking their first trip to the winner’s circle. The event features Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Speedometer, who will look to improve off a third to Grade 3 Schuylerville contender Pretty Birdie on June 18 at Churchill Downs. 

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Speedometer appeared green when lugging in and out in the stretch run of her debut. A Kentucky homebred, Speedometer is by multiple champion-producing sire Tapit and is out of multiple stakes-winner Speedinthruthecity. 

David Fiske, racing and bloodstock advisor to owner Ron Winchell, said he was given a fair warning by Asmussen prior to Speedometer’s debut. 

“Before the race, Steve told me that she was one of these Tapits that reacts to everything,” Fiske recalled. “She’s just aware of everything around her. I can only hope that she’ll benefit physically and mentally. We bought her dam as a 2-year-old and she went on to produce Nitrous who was Grade 1-placed. They’re full siblings.”

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. will ride from post 9. 

Hall of Famer Bill Mott will send out Frosted Oats for Spendthrift Farm and MyRacehorse Stable for her debut.

Bred in Florida by Sally J. Andersen, the chestnut by second crop sire Frosted is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Peace and War. She is out of the black-type producing Smart Strike mare More Oats Please, who is a half-sister to Miss Valentine, a multiple stakes-winner on the NYRA circuit. 

Jockey Joel Rosario rides from post 8. 

Three races later, a group of ten 2-year-old fillies will vie for their first win going five furlongs over the Saratoga main track. 

Asmussen and Winchell will team up once more with another well-bred filly in Echo Zulu. The daughter of 2017 Horse of the Year and freshman stallion Gun Runner was a $300,000 purchase at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Echo Town, who captured the 2020 H. Allen Jerkens presented by Runhappy. Both are out of the multiple black type-producing Menifee mare Letgomyecho. 

Winchell partnered with Michael Levinson of L and N Racing, the owner of Echo Town, in purchasing Echo Zulu from the sale. 

“We were buying a lot of colts last year at the sale,” Fiske said. “There were a lot of opinions on her amongst the team. Steve had gone to look at her. Then we went over to the barn, looked at her and decided to pick up a filly.”

Levinson said teaming up with Winchell just made the most sense. 

“We owned Echo Town and he owned Gun Runner so it made sense for us both to team up on the filly,” Levinson said. “It’s sentimental if nothing else and she looked the part. She’s a beautiful horse. We were at the sale, saw she was in the book. Teaming up with Ron Winchell just made sense. It’s just exciting to have the opportunity to have a 2-year-old prospect that is good enough to run at Saratoga.”

Echo Town and Echo Zulu have the common factor of being appealing horses to look at according to Levinson. 

“They had about the same shape, and were both very attractive,” Levinson said. “We hit lightning in a bottle with Echo Town for less than this one, but a Grade 1 win gave her the extra value. They’re both great looking horses, everyone involved liked her so we just had to have her.” 

Santana, Jr. will pilot Echo Zulu from post 7. 

Jeff Drown and Don Rachel’s Solasta, a half-sister to millionaire Mia Mischief, debuts for trainer Jeremiah Englehart. 

The daughter of Goldencents was a $300,000 purchase form last year’s Fasig-Tipton Select Sale and is out of the Speightstown mare Greer Lynn. 

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides from post 6. 

Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey debuts Texian, an Emory A. Hamilton homebred by Quality Road. The bay filly is the first offspring out of the graded sakes-placed Curlin mare Tejana and directly descends from 1991 Champion Older Mare Queena. 

Jockey Jose Ortiz rides from post 9.